Bringing Up The Rear

The Bottom Line? Our Butts Are Getting Bigger - And So Are Our Clothes And Chairs And Coffins.

May 10, 1989|By Robin D. Givhan, Knight-Ridder Newspapers.

Our butts are getting bigger, says a study in the May issue of the fashion magazine Elle. But those who keep an eye on derrieres-anthropolog ists, fashion experts and furniture makers, among others-differ on whether it`s because of more muscle or more flab.

Some say we`re getting fatter because we`re more sedentary than we were 50 years ago. Others say we`re bigger than our great-grandparents were because of improved nutrition and health care.

In either case, don`t go blaming evolution and the forces of nature, says C. Loring Brace, a University of Michigan professor of anthropology.

Millions of years ago, ``full-scale bipedal locomotion that involved muscles in the hips did increase the size of the rear end, but, relatively speaking, (bone structure) hasn`t changed recently,`` Brace says. ``They`ve only recently increased because people have gotten fatter.``

That`s right. Despite Jane Fonda, the plethora of diet books and the millions of marathoners, people are getting heftier. And, although it hasn`t been a conscious effort, most manufacturers are responding to our change in girth and height.

A grave issue

``People have been getting bigger in all directions. For example, hotel beds are several inches longer than they were several years ago. Coffins have been getting bigger,`` says Stanley Garn, a fellow at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development.

Today, coffins are generally rectangular and standardized at 6 feet, 6 inches long. Decades ago, the tapered coffins that turn up in old horror films were more popular, and those were generally no more than 6 feet, 3 inches long, says Bob Muehlig of Muehlig Funeral Chapel in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Even members of the fashion industry are admitting to our collective growth spurt, and are using it to their advantage.

``If you compare a pair of Brooks Brothers trousers from 10 years ago with today`s designer pants, it`s like night and day,`` says Chip Tolbert, fashion director of the Men`s Fashion Association in New York. ``The trend for men`s trousers is for wider and fuller-pleated trousers. . . .

``They`re definitely fuller in the legs and the rear ends.``

Muscle-bound?

Fashion experts attribute bigger bottoms to the better workout theory, rather than to more fat.

Far from the 1960s, when the rail-thin Twiggy look was a coveted body type, Estee Lauder today uses the sexy curves of Paulina Porizkova to hawk the fragrance Knowing. Singer Glenn Frey goes from bone-thin to pumping iron in Vic Tanny commercials. Even Bruce Springsteen has shed his willowy image for a muscleman look.

Ellen Breslow, beauty director of Self magazine, poses the question:

``Are we becoming rounder, or is it becoming more accepted?`` Self`s March issue carried an article titled, ``Bottoms Up: The New Curves.``

says Breslow. ``It`s a natural reflection of working out and sports. . . . The clothing styles sort of accentuate that, and so it becomes more acceptable.`` The recently aerobicized and trend-setting Madonna sports tight capri pants and shorts, and the new popularity of the bustle in formal attire is drawing the eye to the glutei.

Bigger seats

The case of the expanding fanny may be fodder for chubby jokes, but it`s also serious business for furnituremakers, who listen to news like this to keep their seats-er, chairs-comfortable. According to them, chairs are being ordered wider than they were a half-century ago.

``I do believe that people spend more time sitting in their offices now than they did 50 years ago,`` says Ed Yates, product manager with the American Seating Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich. ``More of our population is in office work than 50 years ago, and the longer you sit on your backside, the larger it`s going to get.

``Or, possibly people are requiring more comfort in their chairs,`` Yates suggests. ``People are not willing to cram themselves into their chair anymore; they want a little more comfort.``

In the airline industry, though, the bottom line in coach-class seating is economy, not comfort.

``Now versus 40 or 50 years ago, they`re probably somewhat narrower now . . . because of our need to maximize our capacity on aircraft as much as possible,`` says Jim Brown, spokesman for American Airlines in Ft. Worth.

``But, at the same time there`s been a larger request for business class on longer flights.`` Business-class seats are three to four inches wider than those in coach, Brown says.

Support for women

Steelcase Inc. in Grand Rapids, a leading manufacturer of office furniture, produces a special Sensor chair that adjusts to provide different body shapes with proper support. Chuck Davis, group marketing manager, says the company`s chairs were larger 30 years ago, but that was based on the larger size of the office, not the worker. The size of today`s chair is

``generally based on the female, who has the greatest girth across the hip range,`` Davis says.

``The American National Standards Institute (which sets minimum standards) still holds to relatively narrow ranges between arms as a minimum- 17-18 inches,`` Davis explains. ``Ours are usually at least 18-19 inches between arms, and often 20-21.`` -